


No One Knows Where the Lone Wolf's Gone

by archergwen



Series: The River Goes Where the Water Flows [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula Doesn't Need Redemption, Gen, Zuko's Accidental Correspondence School of Conscience, but she's still gonna be real casual about murder, no summary; it messes with the formatting when you're looking at the fic itself, takes place around Part 3 of this series, this time for critical thinking skills and treason and saving the world, traditional sibling nuclear arms race
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26128654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archergwen/pseuds/archergwen
Series: The River Goes Where the Water Flows [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895833
Comments: 17
Kudos: 198





	No One Knows Where the Lone Wolf's Gone

### (no one sees her camped out right there on the front lawn)

Azula taps a nail on her desk, watching the letter burn in her other hand. It's not often you get a letter from your dead brother. One ought to treasure such rich opportunities the occasion provides.

She doesn't dare burn the accompanying letter, as it's both not for her and very useful.

When the few remaining ashes are wiped off her desk into the incense holder, Azula stands, tucks the second letter into her sleeve, and sweeps out of her room.

She waits, of course, outside the throne room. Not even the de facto Crown Princess gets to swan in on her father whenever she wants. That is one of the lessons she learned from Zuko, and she's thinking about that as her father's secretary makes all the polite noises about her father's busy schedule.

She's his daughter. She knows he is keeping her waiting. She needs to know where she stands, in this court.

Azula knows.

Though, she muses to herself as she stands when summoned, she might be seeing that position a little more clearly right now.

She kneels before her father, before the wall of fire Grandfather loved so much, and waits some more.

"Azula. What do you have to report?"

"I have received a letter from Zuko, for you, that he sent to me out of concern you'd burn it without reading."

"Your brother is dead, per the late Admiral Zhao's report."

"And yet I have a recent letter from him." The fire lowers a little, her father's hand extending, in a clear invitation. "Trust me, Father, you will want to read it."

His pale hand catches the scroll, and as he retracts his hand the fire rises again.

> _Father,_
> 
> _Zhao is not loyal to you. He is not loyal to the Fire Nation. He is loyal to whatever will bring him glory. For some reason, he thought that was killing the Moon Spirit. I stopped him; you're welcome. We all need the moon, benders or not. I hear the Ocean spiked him into a common transport ship. Serves him right._
> 
> _Also, I figured out you want me dead. Sorry to disappoint._
> 
> _Best,_
> 
> _Zuko._

Azula watches the letter slowly burn up in the wall of flames. "Your brother has a certain knack for finding the exact way to ruin my plans."

"You meant for the Zhao to kill the Moon Spirit then?"

"He asked permission, and I granted it, yes." A pause. "Is that a problem?"

She taps a single nail on her knee and lets silence sit for a minute. If her father thinks its a tell, that is his fault for teaching her to fake them. If he truly thinks she did not come here with her thoughts prepared, all the better. She barely had to work for it anyway - she's stealing them all from Zuko's other letter.

"I merely wish to understand your reasoning, Father. We are a nation of islands, and our diet is based on the sea. Our fishermen depend on those tides, as does navigation between the islands. It would require a significant tactical advantage to overcome those issues and potential famine, the potential for more severe flooding not even factored into my thoughts. The next Avatar will likely be born in the South anyway - a place we have well beaten down. Extend the hand, fully envelop them into our nation, and decades from now when the current Avatar expires the next will be completely ours despite being born to the opposite and inferior element."

Her father, though, weaponizes silence better than anyone.

Doesn't matter. Her spine is steel.

"A significant tactical advantage? Eliminating waterbending is not enough of one?" He pauses, only long enough for the censure to hit. He was not waiting for a reply. "And are you so certain, like your _brother,_ that the Avatar should survive this war?"

She waves a hand. "He is a mere child somehow, yet still a relic of a pacifistic culture. He is no doubt in great conflict over having to be in conflict. I am confident we can talk him into seeing sense."

"Are you." He echoes it without a hint of question in his voice. "You are dismissed."

Azula stands, bows, and leaves. Her mind is blank until she is safe in her room. Well, safe enough. She reaches for some paper and a brush. The Fire Sages, yes, one had turned traitor already. No doubt his brethren could be convinced into something similar. Tui, La, she could never remember which was the Moon, but she was Agni's sister. Father said once that whatever the military did, he had to know and approve of. As Agni on Earth, the Fire Lord had just tried to kill the Moon, something that Agni would never do. That would probably count for something to those superstitious old fools.

Besides. Brothers don't kill sisters. No matter what his sister does. It was a rule of the universe, or something. She ought to know.

She rolled the letter up and quickly composed another Mai, to send at the same time.

Betrayal would not be tolerated. Her father had all but explicitly said he was fine dumping a Water Tribe avatar on her - and an Avatar who would grow up with stories of their culture's benders and knowing that the Fire Nation had robbed her of something essential. Unlike the Air Nomads, the Water Tribes had no taboos against revenge or killing. War would come. Again.

Azula sealed two letters and sent two hawks and now waits - floating through the days - waiting for death or victory.

She does not wait long, nor does she wait long kneeling before the Fire Lord.

"Both your brother and uncle continue to ignore my summons."

"Perhaps Uncle's failings are, catching."

"Perhaps."

More likely, Zuko meant it when he said he knew Father wants him dead. Which, honestly, is _tacky_ and wasteful. Zuko did not have a permanent case of idiocy, merely a young one. He could clearly grow out of it. So what if she, second born, was the true heir favored by Agni, as evidenced by her blue fire and mastery of lightning? Uncle had stepped aside for Father less than a decade ago. Precedent was set. Killing an asset who had seen the world was foolish.

"You will do what he has failed to do, and capture the Avatar. If the occasion calls for it, clear your opponents from the field."

A slow grin full of malice spreads across her face. Azula means every inch of it. "With pleasure, Father." She bows over her knees, touching her forehead to the ground.

* * *

"What the fuck?"

"Language, dear brother. What would Mother say to that?"

Her brother takes a few determined steps away from the gaggle of urchins he'd collected, so like the mother turtleduck he'd always loved, his world clearly narrowed down to just her standing before the Earth King's throne, Ty Lee cartwheeling happily away. "No, Azula, what the fuck is going on and why are you here?"

She shrugs, unbothered. "Father told me to be useful, so I thought I'd take Ba Sing Se for him. Imagine my surprise when this fool-" She spins to face Long Feng, blue fire smashing through the chains he'd thrown at her. He stumbles back into Ty Lee's waiting fists, and he crumples to the floor. "-turns out to have taken over Ba Sing Se himself, so I wouldn't even truly be beating the Earth King, which is no fun. So I thought, why not liberate it, let this young king grow some backbone, and come back later to try against a real opponent. Much better."

"Father won't be pleased if you do that."

Oh dear. He looks positively green at the thought of her getting hurt. She was right.

Brothers don't hurt their sisters.

She waves a hand, unworried as Mai finally leans away from the Earth King and the Dai Li pour out of the shadows. "Oh, Father probably doesn't have too long to be pleased about anything, honestly."

"Azula," he says, warning in his tone.

"Killing you would be inefficient, yet he seems oddly fixated on it. Same with destroying the Moon. As if eliminating waterbending would be a significant enough advantage to outweigh _famine,_ and then daring to act like I'm the idiot for disagreeing."

"Island nation," mutters one of the urchins, a boy in blue.

She nods to him, a sign of imperial favor. "Just so. What do you say, Zuzu? Let's go home, get you re-installed as Crown Prince, and let everything go back to normal. The Fire Sages should finish poisoning Father well before we reach home port-"

"Woah!" A child in yellow who can only be the Avatar bursts forth. "That's not okay! You can't just have someone else kill your dad because he made you feel bad!"

"What part of 'he was okay potentially causing a famine in exchange for destroying waterbending' do you not understand, _child?_ As far as I am concerned, the Fire Sages are acting completely legally. After all, if the Fire Lord is Agni's voice on Earth, then any action loyal servants of Agni take couldn't possibly harm him. Of course, if someone claiming to represent Agni tried to kill His sister, well, then I'd say they shouldn't expect to have Agni's favor at all. It's a miracle Father could still firebend last I saw him."

"I'm not a child! I'm the Avatar!"

"Then you're extra lucky Fire Lord Ozai is dying or else I would have to worry about the consequences for not frying you where you stand." She looks at her brother. "Please? You're the only one who can help me when Ty Lee tries to make me wear pink for my coronation."

"Your coronation? I'm older!"

She laughs, tries to be with him, not at him. "And I'm the better choice."

"Ahem."

All turn to look at the Earth King, who straightens his glasses. "You, princess, are fourteen years old. You, prince, are sixteen. Both of you are under the age of majority in the Fire Nation. You do have an uncle, however, who has been removed from the line of succession."

"You are suggesting a regency."

"Just so, Princess. I am sure the Fire Sages may have some sort of test to determine which of you should take the throne, if the two of you cannot come to an agreement in the meantime."

"And you're fine with me coming back later to try again?"

The young man pales, partially from her and partially from the Dai Li dragging his most trusted and most treacherous ally away, but at least he has the spine to look her in the eye and reply, "I am sure we can renegotiate later."

Azula quirks a smile. "Then I will leave you to clean up your messes. Zuzu, are you coming now?"

"We're stopping the war, right?"

She rolls her eyes, letting out an over-dramatic sigh he'd be proud of. "Yes, though we'll have to completely renegotiate manufacturing contracts as well as colonial supervision, but that can't all be done in a day so can we please _go_?"

Her brother pauses, and then he walks over to her. "Sure. Let's go home. The Avatar can fly, so it's not like he can't come and go when or where he pleases."

"That's true!" The child pipes up, a calculating grin on his face. "Gee, I wonder if Avatar Roku could have imagined this scenario when he said I had to defeat the Fire Lord to end the war."

"Great-grandfather? Please, he had his chance to stop the war before it got started, and he muffed it. Don't let him foist the responsibility off on you."

Matching looks of dawning glee and dawning horror burst across the Avatar and her brother's faces. "Zuko," the Avatar whispers in delight, barely able to breathe. "Am I your grandfather?"

"No," he replies in panic, shooting her a look and beginning to march out of the palace. She falls into step beside him with a cursory bow to the Earth King.

"I _am_!"

"No, you're a twelve-year-old airbender, not a geriatric Fire Nation noble."

"Ah! But I used to be that!"

As her brother sinks deeper and deeper into his well of flash-paper anger that barely masks fragile joy, Azula brushes her shoulder against his. "I'm glad you're not dead. I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

_Fin_


End file.
